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Violence against women is top of mind in Nova Scotia in the aftermath of the tragic death of teenager Rehteah Parsons. So, a near seven-month delay by the NDP government in proclaiming a new law aimed at helping victims of abuse is causing concern among women's groups and opposition critics.

Last December, the House of Assembly passed a bill that would allow a person – in most cases women – to break a lease if a person was in reasonable danger of being a victim of domestic abuse. Many people in this situation are tenants, and this new law would allow them to get out of a lease without financial hardship or credit-rating consequences.

But the regulations that provide the details of the bill before it can be implemented have not yet come to cabinet for approval – and so the bill is yet to be in force.

"People who are in situations of domestic violence cannot get out of their leases now," says Kelly Regan, a Liberal MLA and status of women critic, noting that Premier Darrell Dexter's cabinet has had ample time since December to approve the regulations.

To complicate matters, she charges, that the NDP is boasting to its supporters that the law is in place.

"It is misleading," she says. This is important as the government is poised to call an election, possibly as early as next month. Women's groups will be looking to candidates for their views on these issues.

Ms. Regan notes, too, that issues around violence against women have been on the minds of Nova Scotians since April after the death of Rehteah Parsons. The 17-year-old died several days after a suicide attempt.

Her family alleges that she was sexually assaulted by four boys at a party in November, 2011, when she was 15. A cellphone picture of the alleged assault was circulated around her school and community. She was also harassed online and, despite changing schools and seeking help, could not escape her tormentors. The NDP government reacted swiftly, creating commissions and studies around her case – but have not acted on this promise from seven months ago.

The bill is modeled on legislation adopted two years ago by the provincial government in Manitoba, which has only used successfully eight times, according to Ms. Regan.

This statistic is troubling to Ms. Regan and also to Pamela Harrison, the provincial co-ordinator for the Transition House Association of Nova Scotia, which has 13 locations across the province and work with over 2,000 women a year.

"You have to think about the population of Manitoba and the high, high level of intimate partner violence," says Ms. Harrison. "If only eight people were successful in Manitoba our hopes for anybody being successful in Nova Scotia are somewhat limited."

She is critical of the lack of consultation by government: "We hoped that with an NDP government there would be real consultation."

Her group was able to get a couple of changes made to make it slightly easier for women to access the law but she still believes that the criteria that have to be met might still make it impractical. Neither she nor anyone in her organization have seen or been consulted about the regulations.

John MacDonnell, the Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations Minister, describes this legislation as "citizen protection".

"We think about consumer protection and this is kind of ramping that up a notch to citizen protection," he says. "They (the victims of domestic violence) can leave an abusive situation and not be obligated to have to pay the lease they signed on for."

He has no concerns about any delays. In fact, he says the regulations will go to cabinet "sooner rather than later." In fact, he believes, that the process has moved quickly. "I'm quite impressed," he says.

He is also the agriculture minister and notes that one of the bills in that portfolio took two years.

Jane Taber is The Globe's Atlantic bureau chief.

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